


Boy

by PupaPan



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, Human Trafficking, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-12-31
Updated: 2013-02-11
Packaged: 2017-10-28 14:44:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/308977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PupaPan/pseuds/PupaPan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat is a young teen caught up in illegal human trafficking where he is forced to have sex with men. When the man who has been keeping him gets busted, Karkat is put into a witness protection type of program and allowed to live in a different state and go to a new school under a different name. After the horror he had to go through, he vowed to never let another man touch him. When he met John Egbert, he assumed the rules still applied for him as well. Over time, however, Karkat found it difficult to continue clinging to his vows and decided that he could break the rules; if only for just him, just this one time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Enter Name: ...

“Spread ‘em, Boy.” Boy is your name, and the man hunching over your lanky body makes you want to growl and bite, kick and scream and run away. Your body hurts and burns, particularly the part the man is trying to reach between your tightly pressed knees. A large green and blue bruise on your right hip close to your inner thigh is aching, and under your skin your blood is buzzing and growing unpleasantly hot. You want to kick the man in the face, scream obscene profanities and get the fuck out of here. You don’t want the man to tear into your already torn and horribly sore body; you don’t want to bleed anymore.

With a smack to your face, the man tosses you onto your stomach on the lumpy Motel8 bed for not listening the first time. “Hurry the fuck up. I have to get home to my fucking wife.” You fucking pig! You bare your teeth and whip your head around, having enough courage to actually raise your voice and open your mouth to scream for the older man to get the fuck off of you. You choke on your tongue and instead utter a terrible, pained noise as the man’s hips smack against yours, something thick tearing your barely healed insides again. You see red, fire blazing in your abdomen.

Your eyes clench shut as tears leak down your cheeks. You whisper harshly to yourself, venomous words hissing between your clenched teeth, hoping the man could hear how much you wanted him to die, how much you wanted for his internal organs to liquefy. You chant and chant and your voice quickly began to fail you. “God..save me...” You whisper as the man begins to speed up, about to climax. You prepare, trying to concentrate on only your soft sobs and heart beating rapidly in your ears.

But there is a sound, and a crash and a scream of words. The world begins to speed up and everything happens so fast. You are pushed away from the man and he is grabbed by a blur of gray and navy blue. You jolted and were jostled up by strong arms, a sweep of panic setting inside of you as you kick and your eyes flash around the room quickly. Blurs of red and blue, black and navy slowly forming figures and you stop thrashing immediately. You look around at the scene unfolding with wide eyes as officers pin the pig of a man that was previously inside of you and cuff his wrists. Shock set in and you forget how to breathe, your hands clutch the officer’s arm tightly. The officer holding you was talking, telling you in a strong voice as he hurries over to his partner who has a blanket open and ready to receive you that everything is going to be ok, that you were safe, that it’s finally over.

You finally catch your bearings and time slows down back to normal. You take a breath, a deep breath, and begin to sob openly onto the new officer carrying you away and into the ambulance wrapped up in white blanket.


	2. Take Small Bites

\---

 

_Your new name is Karkat. After your time here, you will begin your new life far, far from here._

 

Long chords extended from his body; liquid dripping from a bag filled with medicated fluid down one of the tubes, disappearing under the tape that held the needle feeding it to his bloodstream. His foot twitched, toes flexing and a dull, but small, ache following after from the receding bruise on his inner hip. It’s been eight and a half days since he was abruptly dragged from his old lifestyle.

 

He felt awkward as hell, but he was not complaining in the least. He was out of there, and more and more beginning to feel how real this was. His freedom was real, the medicine detoxing his system was real, and the food resting in his stomach, as minimal as it was, was _real_. Food had been hard to keep down for a few days so his doctor had suggested he just take smaller bites and in smaller portions. After that point, it became pretty natural to him to eat properly again.

 

He sighed, head flopping back down onto his pillow and dark, reddish-black hair splaying around his head. Within eight days, his life had changed so drastically. He was told the day after he arrived at the Rehabilitation Center that the man, who Karkat had known as Spades Slick, had been busted for human trafficking and was in the slammer. All of the other teens and children Karkat had known by face only were saved as well. They told him he would never find him again, he was ineligible for bail and would more than likely walk the Green Mile. And they were completely positive, and Karkat trusted their words.

 

He clenched his fists and told himself to chill the fuck out because he was beginning to feel restless. He took another breath. Held it. And released.

 

“Karkat?” He twitched at the voice saying his newly acquired name and swiveled his head to the side to stare at the woman at the door.

 

“Yeah?” She steps in and closes his sliding glass door behind her, a soft smile on her face and voice light with the smell of freshly brewed French vanilla coffee wafting in behind her.

 

“Today is the day you’re leaving us. Are you excited?” She speaks gently, pulling up a chair and sitting down, her white coat dangling off of the sides of it as she crosses one leg over the other. She then pulled out her tablet of paper and a thin manila folder and folded her hands on top of them.

 

Karkat looked slightly apprehensive, teeth clamped down on his bottom lip, “I don’t know how to fucking feel.” He finally managed to grumble honestly, his bond and trust for the woman showing clearly in both action and feeling. Having her as his doctor had been peaceful, she checked up on him a lot and when he asked, she even brought him extra food and movies. He liked the Romance-y ones so she remembered to bring those more often. And she put up with his foul language.

 

She smiled, “It’s ok to have mixed feelings, Karkat. It’s hard to move so quickly from place to place..” He watched her silently as she clicked a pen and began to scribble on her pad of paper, “Trust me when I say this, you’ll be in a stable place very soon. You will be living a normal, happy teenaged life and even attending school.”

 

Karkat hesitated, “But I didn’t have that much schooling… I can’t even read that well, how the fuck will I be able to attend a high school with the knowledge of a fuckass middle schooler..?” He ducked down, glaring at the sheets clenched in his hand ashamedly.

 

She softly shook her head, lips still in a smile and pen still working at the page. “You would be surprised, Karkat. It’s not as difficult as you seem to think it is.” She held up her paper higher to her face, shook her head, and went back to what she was doing, “People have made it through high school and graduated with a diploma and all. People from other countries, such as yourself, have as well and they hardly speak English!”

 

Karkat felt a little hope and a small swell of pride form inside of him; hope for his future and pride, because he only has middle school status and he knows more English than the other fuckasses she mentioned. He felt a small smug smile tug his lips, “Thanks, Doc.”

 

She looked at him finally, glowing with pride for reassuring him, “You are very welcome Karkat.” She ripped the paper from the pad and folded it in half, sticking it inside of the manila folder and standing, walking to the front of Karkat’s bed and placing it into his file bin.

 

He curiously looked up. “What was that thing anyway?”

 

The doctor shrugged and teased, “You’ll see when you’re discharged tonight.” She walked over to the tray with empty juice cups and paper plates scattered on it and took it away from the bed, walking toward the door, “Are you ready for lunch or do you want more time?”

 

Karkat wanted more food, his stomach was growling. But then again, the last option sparked a different thought.

 

More time. He wanted more time. He _needed_ more time. He didn’t want to leave yet. He didn’t want to go back to the world. He wanted to stay here, where he was safe from stares and people who wanted to hurt him. He looked up to tell her he wanted to wait, but he stopped short.

 

Her eyes had dark circles now that he looked again, her eyes were light, but they looked tired. She didn’t need more on her plate; she didn’t need the added stress of him staying longer than he should.

 

Karkat adjusted on his bed and turned his back to her, eyes glued to the large window that had ferns and tree branches framing it.

 

“Yeah. Food sounds good.”

 

\---

 

Karkat was sitting in a hard plastic chair inside of the airport, the people assigned to dropping him off and watching over him sitting and a few standing a distance away, acting as normal as they could. They we’re all dressed in different casual outfits, which made looking normal a lot easier.

 

In his hand he held the lined notepad paper tight, trying to hold on to himself and control his emotions to the best of his ability. The Doc had drawn a picture for him; a white dove that had pulled its claw free of a shackle and was eternally posed with its wings spread wide across the blue and red lines of the paper. He bit his lip, rereading the line she wrote for him at the bottom with bleary eyes:

 

_“When you come to the edge of all the light you know, and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly. - Patrick Overton”_

He wiped his eyes hard, folding up the paper into fourths and placing it into the large zipper of his backpack. He had left the Center yesterday night and he was driven to a new place to sleep and prepare for today for his flight. He oddly slept a lot, even though he was in a different place. He assumed it was because of how uncomfortable it had been to sleep with IVs in his arms, lack of comfortable sleep finally caught up with him.

 

It’s now seven-thirty in the evening and the sky is dimming and, in Karkat’s perspective, it looked like melting orange and red sherbet ice-cream was dripping onto the fluffy clouds and staining the sky. He adjusted in his seat and began to walk to the window to look out at the run way curiously, lips set in a frown and eyebrows pinched, arms crossed.

 

“Mr. Karkat our flight is boarding.” Karkat stiffened. He turned to face the older man who was assigned to him that had spoken those words, his glare intense. The man just stared down at the shorter and younger teenager with a raised eyebrow.

 

A silence passed over them shortly, the intercom spluttering out a string of terminals and flights that are both preparing to board and preparing to take off, his flight included in the list of boarding flights.

 

“I can hear for myself, fuckface.” He brushed past him coldly, snatching up his backpack, the only luggage he had, and followed the other people watching over him to the terminal.

 


	3. Black and Yellow

\---

About two hours into his flight, Karkat managed to vomit twice and soak approximately fourteen tissues thoroughly from a massive nosebleed. Twisted pieces of tissues clogged his nostrils now and forced him to breathe with his jaw hanging open. Arms crossed loosely against his chest, Karkat propped his knees on the back of the seat in front of him, sharp burgundy eyes absently glued to the window.

His eyes were beginning to narrow in annoyance; his ears are ringing and now there was a new dribble of blood slithering down his lip. Fucking wonderful.

Karkat sighed, defeated, and tilted his head back to carefully remove the soiled tissues and begin replacing them. He reached over and grabbed the box of tissues on the seat beside him, pulling out two separate squares and preparing to tear them and shove them up his nose. He removed the two twisted pieces already in his nose, wiped the blood trailing freely to his lip, and shifted his legs off of the back of the chair in front of him.

“Thank _god_.” A voice exaggeratedly breathed out from the chair in front of him. Karkat scowled, thrown a little off guard. He had been in the middle of blowing his nose to rid himself of some of the blood and he hadn’t expected that snide little comment. He jabbed the seat with the toe of his shoe.

“Got something you want to say to my fucking face?” The seat moved and a head peered over the top, and whoa that’s weird – the boy had some weird ass eyes.

“Yeah I do, fuckface.” Ouch. That lisp was a nasty one too.

Karkat crossed his arms and leaned back, giving the other boy a sarcastic and expectant look, “Let’th hear it then, fuckfathe.” The boy cringed, his cheeks flaring in embarrassment and annoyance at being mimicked. Karkat mentally patted his back at his small victory.

“Ouch, that realllly hurts. My self-esteem is blown to tiny bits again. Booo-hooo, I think I’m going to go home tonight and hang myself because you mocked my lisp.” The different colored eyes rolled and Karkat snorted, the kid was a snarky motherfucker.

“I like how you didn’t say you were going to slit your wrists,” Karkat made a shrugging gesture, “giving you props for that one at least.”

The black haired boy quirked his lip up in a smirk, “And here I was under the impression you carve your arms prettier than a Halloween pumpkin every night.”

Karkat couldn’t help himself; he chuckled lightly at that, tension he didn’t feel before easing a little more as the conversation continued. “Ain’t that a shame, now your soft-core guro fantasies can’t come true.”

The other boy made a face with his tongue sticking out but began laughing with Karkat soon after, “You’re gross.”

“And you’re weird.”

“I’m weird? Look at that sweater you’re wearing! It’s July!”

“You’re one to talk. You look like a talking bumble bee in that damn shirt.”

“It’s my first attempt at being fashionable. But you wouldn’t know any fashion even if it smacked you in the eye.”

“At least _my_ eyes are the same color.”

“Hey, I get a lot more chicks than you could possibly imagine because of my eyes.”

“Uh-huh, I’ll believe that when I see it.”

“Your nose is bleeding by the way.”

“Fuck.”

Karkat covered his nose with his hand and snatched the two tissues he had laid out on his lap, shoving his nose into them and pressing the tissues firmly against it. He blew his nose a few times and wiped the blood stains off his skin with baby wipes, twisting new plugs for his nostrils and shoving them in soon after their hasty creation.

“Sucks to be you.” The black haired boy laughed and Karkat kicked his seat in response.

“What is your name by the way?” The other boy smirked and shook his head.

“Dunno if I should tell you, you might Google Search my address and stalk me in the night.”

“Oh yeah definitely,” Karkat rolled his eyes, “I need some way to find out if the ‘chick-magnet’ thing is legit or not.”

He laughed and extended his hand, “It’s Sollux. Sollux Captor if you want to be formal.” Karkat frowned a little, instead of shaking his hand he gave Sollux a high-five.

“Fuck that ‘formal’ crap.” He smirked again at Sollux’s slightly dumb-founded face, “I’m Karkat. Just Karkat.”

“Just Karkat?”

“Just Karkat.”

“Okkk.”

“Mmhm.”

“I’ll call you kk.”

“What? Why?”

“Deal with it, kk is your name with me.”

“What the hell.”

“Stop bitching, kk.”

“ _Arghh_ , oh my god.”

Sollux laughed and shook his head, “You’re strange. But you’re cool in my book.” Karkat found himself smiling again, it felt kind of nice.

“Yeah, you too.” Then he added as an afterthought, “Asshole.”

Karkat lifted his hand to give another high-five and this time he was met halfway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long guys. My keyboard broke and I had to use an on-screen keyboard for a looong time. Anyway, hope you enjoy the latest instalment!


	4. In Retrospect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are awesome! I had the inspiration to type up the 4th chapter, so here it is!
> 
> As promised, the votes were tallied and the winning pair by a landslide was, of course, John/Karkat. So you will get it :)
> 
> And as previously mentioned, the Fake Chapter will be removed after I post the real 4th chapter (this) so you guys know I updated! Enjoy!

_This was it, the beginning of a new life. Something Karkat had wanted since his kidnapping._

_\---_

The plane was beginning its descent. The lights above his seat flicked on and Karkat tiredly clipped his seatbelt across his thin waist. He kicked the seat in front of himself, earning a grunt of annoyance and a flash of mismatched eyes in response.

 

“What do you want, KK?” Sollux scratched the back of his head, his voice groggy.

 

“Sorry sleeping beauty, did I wake you from your ethernel slumber?” Karkat deadpanned, eyes rolling, “didn’t you hear the intercom guy? We’re landing now or something.”

 

Sollux yawned and shook his head, disappearing behind the seat for a moment. He returned a few seconds later with his glasses on and a more awake appearance. “For one thing, it’s ‘eternal slumber’ and as for the other, yes I did. Asshole.”

 

Karkat glared, face flushed. “S-shut the fuck up, I’m not all that great at pronouncing things!” He tripped around his words, suddenly feeling extremely awkward and paranoid, like he was being watched by a million eyes.

 

Sollux furrowed his brow, noticing his stutter, “Hey, its chill KK. I didn’t mean to embarrass you or anything if I did-”

 

“Excuse me young man, I need to ask you to remain in your seat.” A stewardess interrupted promptly, “We are beginning our descent now so I need you to fasten your seatbelt.” She then leaned over Sollux to pull up and secure the tray that was across his lap and quietly scurried away.

 

Sollux glanced back at Karkat but sat down into his seat. Karkat’s eyes darted out the window again, the paranoid feeling easing only slightly. The thick wall of clouds passing against his window parted after a brief moment, allowing Karkat the opportunity to watch the land become clearer. Buildings and skyscrapers, cars and roadways appearing larger as the plane became closer and closer to landing.

 

Oh fuck, the dread and sickness was returning.

 

Karkat clenched his hands into tight fists and squeezed his eyes shut. _You want this, you want this, you want a home!_ He chanted to himself frantically but his stomach was churning and lurching with anxiety again.

 

His father back in Brazil has probably given up hope on him by now.. Or maybe Slick wasn’t lying when he said he killed his father.. Maybe his dad never came for him because Slick really murdered him.

 

Back when he was thrown into a caravan full of armed and dangerous men, terrified girls and other boys his age and was brought to America, he wanted to believe it was a nightmare.

 

In retrospect, the horror of being hung in chains and beat until he was bloody was the closest to reality he had ever faced. And around that time Karkat himself finally gave up on his father ever rescuing him anyway.

 

Karkat tasted the acidic tasting bubbles in the back of his throat and dashed for the restroom. He desperately pulled on the handle and rushed inside, slamming the door and just barely making it to the port-a-potty style toilet before his stomach emptied the bile remaining in his stomach. He laid his cheek on his arm as tears clouded his eyes and spit the remainder from his mouth.

 

He remembered how he would vomit after being drugged or when his wounds constantly became infected until he eventually came down with crippling illnesses. When he would hug the toilet all night, sleepless and weak from dehydration and malnutrition. Soon after he had developed chronic insomnia.

 

His stomach lurched again as he felt the plane land, his body following the motion. Karkat unwillingly triggered the memories he had been trying so hard to hold back, and he could fucking _feel_ them all over again.

 

Every hand that touched his body, every eye that scanned over his skin, every bead of sweat and clod of dirt sticky with blood stuck between the crevices of his toes and fingers. Days without showers or clean clothes, days where it was a chore to move or use the toilet because of how raw and torn his insides had become. Days of raw anger and hatred. Days became weeks, and weeks into months and so on until four years of the horror passed.

 

Those hot tears rushed from his eyes and he sobbed against the ring of the toilet seat. The anger and rage boiling deep inside his body surging and burning through his veins.

 

Maybe the anger was enough for him to move on. Maybe anger was his only option of coping. Forgetting everything did not seem like a fucking plausible action anymore. Because in reality, how could anyone forget what happened to them?

**_Because they fucking can’t._ **

 

Resigned, Karkat stood from the floor and proceeded to wash his mouth out, blow his nose with a tissue and wipe his eyes in front of the restroom mirror. He looked up into the reflection of his angry burgundy eyes and frowned at the paleness and clammy look of his face. He wet a napkin with lukewarm water and wiped under his eyes, along his chin and hairline, and over his cheeks. Then wiped his face dry with another napkin.

 

Karkat approved of what he saw in the mirror and tossed the soiled napkins into the small trash bin. Despite the lingering feelings of anxiety and anger, he opened the door and returned to his seat to grab his luggage.

 

He opened the latch door of the top compartment as other passengers squeezed passed him towards the exit. The dark haired teen snuck a glance over at the seat in front of his own but to his dismay, Sollux’s seat was empty and his two bags were missing from the top compartment as well. His shoulders slumped abruptly, the hateful feelings inside him from earlier melting like ice. Well this sucks..

 

However, as Karkat pulled his bag out, the sound of crinkling paper caught his attention. A spark of hope flittered through his stomach as a folded paper dropped into his awaiting hand. Karkat hurriedly stuffed it into his pocket and dragged his bag down, a smile pulling his lips up.

 

He shoved his way off the plane through the remaining people and walked silently through the pathway leading into the waiting area, trying to avoid eye contact by keeping his eyes lowered. He pulled out the note and read through it, eyes softening.

 

_Trollian Handle: twinArmageddons  _

_send me a friiend request when you make one, asshole._

_\--Sollux_

 

It felt nice; he cared enough to leave him his Trollian information so they could keep contact. Karkat read it over one last time and folded it back up, slipping it deep into his pocket for safe keeping.

 

Once he reached the lobby, Karkat scanned the area for the guys in Armani suits. The other people from the first part of his trip told him that they would have a separate team waiting for him in Seattle, Washington.

 

After four minutes of watching and waiting passed, Karkat felt the first pinpricks of dread and nervousness forming around his heart. He wrung his hands together anxiously and looked around the room a fourth time, biting his lip and suddenly feeling very small among all of the other strangers around him.

 

There were so many people here, too many faces. Voices he had never heard talking all around him, hundreds of eyes from hundreds of people darting everywhere. Karkat didn’t know this place. He didn’t know these people or who they were, what occupation they had or what they knew.

 

Karkat’s heart sped up as terrified thoughts raced through his head. Oh fuck what if Slick found out he was here? What if some of the people here were in disguise and were part of Slick’s business? What if he had more connections than Karkat knew of and he was going to track him down and drag him back? Or worse; **kill him**.

 

Karkat’s tan skin glistened with a sheen of sweat as fear washed over him. His heart pounded inside his chest, and it became hard to breathe. The walls were suddenly too tall and his own body became suddenly too hot. Blood rushed to his head and his arms and legs were shaking. Millions of staring eyes were staring at him again and the room began to spin around him.

 

Numbness swam over his body as his hand dropped the straps of the luggage he was carrying. Black blotted his vision as Karkat’s knees hit the floor and he fainted.

 


	5. Enter Name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter to introduce the newest character and his issues. John attends a year round high school btw.

_Your name is now John Egbert and you hate your school so much you’ve finally decided to transfer out._

 

“Dad!” you call as you step into the den. You toss down your school bag onto the couch and flop down heavily into a recliner.

“Yes son?” Your father replies from the kitchen, the scent of baked chicken wafting into your nose. Your stomach rumbles but you can’t let that deter you; you have bigger fish to fry. You fight the urge to smack your forehead because of how that pun made you hungrier and instead you take a breath.

“I seriously really want to change schools, dad.” Your father pokes his head through the doorway of the kitchen with an inquisitive look a few moments after your proclamation.

“I know that you’ve been having troubles getting along with the kids,” he starts, giving you a knowing look, “but is it honestly bad enough for you to switch schools?” You scrub at your hair vigorously, beginning to get agitated.

“Dad it’s not just the kids, people look at me differently because I even attend that school. They think I’m just some snobby jerk who wipes his ass with hundred dollar bills because I’m associated with the kids that do.” You gesture with your hands a little, switching positions on the recliner to face your father completely.

“And yeah, the kids are super loaded and stuff, but they don’t bother me verbally or physically. It’s mentally. They’re blowing their parents hard earned money and don’t even work for anything they want!” Your father nods as he listens to you vent, but disappears from the doorway of the kitchen as a timer on the stove goes off. He reassures you he’s still listening and it urges you to continue.

You sigh deeply, curling your legs into a comfortable position in the recliner. It’s been a long day and you’re exhausted.“I just..It’s frustrating to explain. Dad, I don’t belong there. You understand where I’m coming from don’t you?”

There are a few minutes of silence after you finish and you begin to feel as if your father doesn’t hear you over his cooking. But just as you decide to get up your dad comes out of the kitchen and places two steaming plates down at the dining room table. The smells beckon you closer as you take a seat, licking your lips.

“John, I want you to be happy.” You nod and pick up your fork, digging into your dad’s famous lemon pepper chicken and mashed potatoes as he speaks. “I’ll begin filling out the paperwork at Prospit High for you in the morning.”

“Thank you Dad.” You say with a mouthful of potatoes and nudge into the hand ruffling your hair gratefully.

“I’m so proud of you, son.” Were the last words spoken between you both on that subject as you both ate. Different topics arose as dinner was eaten and later finished, smiles on both your face and your father’s as you said your good nights and disappeared into your respective rooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> John is being switched to a regular high school in the fall. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	6. Eyes

_Karkat looked into her eyes and then to her lips that were curled into a genuine smile and found he could smile back_

\---

A voice called Karkat’s name from the upstairs window as he approached the middle-upper class house, causing him to shield his eyes and peer upward. A woman was beaming down at him from the window sill with a happy smile and a jubilantly waving arm, “Hey Karkat it’s so wonderful to meet you!” A small, shy smile formed on his lips as he waved back hesitantly. She grinned and disappeared from the window immediately, Karkat took a wild guess that she was hurrying downstairs to come help him and the woman who picked him up from the airport unpack the car.

The blonde woman grabs some plastic bags and tucks an elongated rectangular box under her arm as she backs away from the car door and kicks it shut. Karkat sneezed lightly and walked up to the front door to deposit his newly purchased belongings into the living room. The smell of herbs and incense wafted to his nose and he felt his body tingle and relax.

“Wow it smells really nice.” He commented, glancing back at the blonde who had been placing down the elongated box and other items she had been holding.

“Thank you Karkat. Me and Kanaya like picking out fresh ingredients for the incense you smell.”

“Maybe you can tag along with us one day to pick flowers and herbs too.” Karkat blushed lightly and glanced behind him to acknowledge the new voice in the room.

“Oh, um hi.. You must be Kanaya.” He shifted his feet and raised his hand to shake hers, noting in his head how beautiful her eye color was.

“It’s wonderful to meet you,” She smiled, and then looked over the top of his head, “I heard you were late picking him up from the airport, Rose.”

The blonde woman, Rose, tossed her hair over her shoulder softly and apologized, “It was my mistake, I should have known traffic would be hellish on the one day I have something important to take care of.” She patted the top of Karkat’s head gently after.

“I got the little guy a bite to eat and some ice-cream, he fainted in the airport from not eating.” Kanaya made a face but didn’t say anything further.

Karkat scuffed his shoe against the dark maroon carpet lining the living room and lifted his head to look into Kanaya’s eyes again. He wondered what color he could label them as; we’re they hazel? Ice blue and green? He wished he had eyes like hers; they’re his new favorite eye color. Karkat looked into her eyes and then to her lips that were curled into a genuine smile and found he could smile back.

“Come with us Karkat; let’s go start setting up your new room!” Kanaya enthusiastically clapped her hands together and began gathering boxes along with him and rose.

\---  
By the time dinner rolled around, Karkat had already learned so much about his new home and new family and area he swore it felt like his head would burst. Dinner was very special that night, because he got to pick everything on the menu. Fresh green beans with grilled steak and seasoned potatoes, topped off with Vanilla Coke floats in tall glasses. He took a few more bites of his potatoes and after a few more sips of his almost empty float he began to yawn. Rose looked over from her plate and smiled, pulling a blanket she crocheted from her lap and draping it around him.

“oh thanks..” He murmured, letting out a breath before he spoke up again. “I didn’t know what to think before I got here, but I’m already happy I came to this place.” His cheeks dusted with pink from the smiles he received.

“Me and Rose are also very happy to have you here with us, Karkat.” Kanaya returned, folding her hands loosely between her hips. Karkat could feel the ache growing inside his chest. He could feel the lump forming in his throat, and fuck he knew what was coming. He put down his fork and sniffled, jesus he was such a fucking baby.

Rose took one look at Kanaya and knowingly followed her with her eyes as she instantly took Karkat’s side. She touched his hand, and asked his permission to comfort him. He shakily nodded as he cried and cried onto her shoulder, his nose buried into her thick black hair.

He begged through broken sobs for them to keep Spades away from him. He begged for them to keep him safe and to never let the bad man find him. Each sob was met with confirmation and a vow. Spades isn’t in control anymore; he will never find you again. We will be here with you, always.

\---  
After tucking Karkat warmly in his bed, Kanaya and Rose closed his door softly and shared a small kiss.

“I didn’t expect him to open up to us yet, but today certainly went better than expected.” Rose ascertained as they retreated to their shared room on the other side of the house. Kanaya nodded in agreement, stretching her arms above her head as she yawned.

“Looks like he’s rubbing off on me already.” She winked and quirked her lips up. Rose rolled her eyes good naturedly.

“Speaking of rubbing,” Rose winked back, “I think I deserve a nice back rub for the great meal I cooked for us tonight.” Kanaya laughed as she closed their bedroom door behind her, carefully taking the bobby pins from her hair and letting it freely fall to the bottom of her neck.

“Fine, but only if you wake me up early tomorrow. I still need to take Karkat clothes shopping” Rose groaned but complied. “Fine, grab the green tea lotion and I’ll light the candles.” Kanaya snickered and kissed her lovely wife’s forehead before locking the bedroom door and searching for Rose’s favorite scented lotion.


End file.
